The proposed program of research will lead to the development of a criterion referenced assessment (CRA) for identifying and describing language disordered children who are also speakers of Black English (BE). Three research goals are proposed: l) to extend current knowledge about linguistic constraints governing features of BE; 2) to apply BE linguistic constraints in the development of CRA; and 3) to apply the CRA in identifying language disorders among BE speaking children. These three goals would be accomplished over a five year period. The first goal establishes the linguistic contexts in which BE features are likely to occur and the constraints governing their variability. Because frequency of BE features varies in a predictable pattern as a function of specific linguistic constraints, deviations in this pattern Can be an important indicator of an aberrant language system. The second goal applies knowledge and information gained about BE linguistic constraints in the development of CRA elicitation tasks. These tasks will follow the constraint characteristics of BE. The third and final goal assesses and applies the CRA in differentiating "deficit" from "difference" between language disordered and normal BE speaking children.